May 31, 2012

We finally arrived here on Monday morning, after travelling for almost 30 hours. Needless to say we've been jet lagged, but very excited at the same time. It feels so good to be home. Spring has arrived even on these altitudes, but it is still early days and we even had a few snowflakes falling down yesterday. I've taken a few happy snaps here and there and will share those with you a bit later.

Whilst we are busy getting everything organised for the wedding, I've invited another fabulously inspiring friend as a guest here on my blog. I've been a huge fan of Elenore's blog for quite some time now and her endless positive energy has been both addictive and contagious. I am so honoured to have Elenore here to answer a few questions about her raw food journey and share yet another delicious recipe with us.

Thank you Elenore and much love back to you!

PS. The giveaway entries close today, May 31. I will announce the winners of Sarah's e-book later this week.

I just fell in
love. With myself. And yes, it had everything to do with
the Liquorice toffee on the picture above. I might even have to go get
me a ring or something.

If you are familiar with me or with Earthsprout then you know I
tend to rave about all kinds of Greenylicious health boosting things but quite
frankly it is Raw chocolate and leafy veggie-focused most of the time. So now
I'm breaking a pattern for Beautiful Maria and all of you Scandi Foodies on
this amazingly bright page! I am really happy to get to share these
recipes with you (cuz then you´ll fall in love with yourselves too)
plus I am crazy glad to be able to help Maria give all her attention to the
wedding. I think we all agree that she should, right!?

Now you might be wondering who on earth
I am who suddenly popped up here. Well, I am Elenore, your official
Tree Hugger and Sassy Health Gal. I run with the wolves and I love
long fabulous dresses. I mix the wonders of nature with the latest of knowledge
in the world of natural nutrition an I firmly believe in the magic of this
Planet. I mean I doubt that the date pits that I throw out in the vegetable
garden will grow since I live in Sweden. but still, this Earth is pretty
magical indeed. So what I do is that I use my knowledge and inspiration
to hopefully make a change in the world. I spread Greenylicious tips and love
and crazy dance this whole life through! (More in the interview below)

Fun & Fabulous Facts

So if the earth is magical then of
course so is the Liquorice root! Liquorice is derived from a plant part of the
pea family which means that Liquorice is a legume and was actually also sold in
pharmacies up until the 70´s! I remember
the first time I met this root, I was around 6 or 7 year old and I got one to
chew on in the health food store. Instant love for sure. It is
traditionally used as a mouth refresher so I'm not the only one who likes to
chew on it apparently.

There are many studies and many
things said about the wondrous root of the Liquorice plant one of them being
it´s effect on the hormones of the endocrine system. There are active substances in Liquorice that acts balancing in
particularly the bodies of women by adding plant estrogens (phytoestrogens) and
lowering the amount of testosterone (the "male" hormone). Based
on studies that show this, the liquorice root is commonly used to help balance
menstrual irregularities and other problems liked to the hormonal system. I think that is a really good excuse to
indulge in these toffee squares at least! That being said, it is not advised
to eat more than 50g liquorice per day as it can in access consumption for
example rise blood pressure or disrupt the water balance in the body.

Raw Liquorice Toffee with Rhubarb compote

This
is one of those ridiculously easy raw dessert recipes that you can create in a
few minutes and while the toffee rests in the freezer you have time to make the
compote. I know it may seem like the weirdest collision of flavors but I'm
telling you. It´s so darn delish! (did I mention it's free from added sugars?)
Now go fall in love with yourself!

Raw Liquorice Toffee

(Makes 8 mid sized squares)

165 g prunes

40 g virgin
coconut oil, carefully melted in a bowl over hot water

40 g almond
flour or ground almonds

2 tsp Raw
Liquorice powder0.5 tsp Himalayan salt

6 drops of
anise seed oil

1 tsp Raw
Liquorice powder (to dust the toffees with)

1. Add all
ingredients to your a food processor and blend thoroughly until it has formed a
smooth dough.

2. Press the
dough into a a square on a baking sheet, dust with the additional liquorice
powder and put in the freezer while you make the rhubarb compote.

3. Cut the
toffee in squares and enjoy together with the compote.

Rhubarb Compote

400 g rhubarb,
peeled & sliced

170 g apple

0.5 cup water

3 tsp arrowroot
powder

10 drops of
stevia concentrate

0.5 tsp pure
vanilla

1. Add rhubarb,
apple and water to a large saucepan and bring to a boil then let it simmer at a
low temperature for 10 minutes.

3. Turn of the
heat, put on the lid and let it rest for at least 5 minutes.

Assembly

Put a small
liquorice square on a pretty plate sprinkle some Himalayan sea salt over it and
add some rhubarb compote, decorate with a few mint leaves. EAT!

What inspired you to become a raw, vegan foodie?

Lets start by saying that I am not eating 100% raw but I
sure am a raw lover and continuously amazed by how raw food makes me feel.
So. Being close to nature and venturing the world of yoga always makes me
question eating animals and this was also where it all started. Going
completely green might not be for everyone but it sure does resonate with me
and my belief that lot´s of veggies = world peace. I know it sounds a bit
cheesy but it will continue to be a huge part of my core.

You’re an organic gardener and a raw food chef.
Tell us how you got into this kind of a career?

It is actually a funny story but when I tell it is just
makes perfect sense. I am all for following your intuition and there was a
period of time in my life when I was not sure where I should go next. One day
this thought popped into my head that said "let´s create a vegetable
garden" and so i did. From that day on everything else kind of followed.
Growing vegetables sparked my interest in natural nutrition and when realizing
that the veggies are such powerful superheroes, all I wanted to do was to
spread the word. Years of education and experience followed, Earthsprout was
born and now here I am really glad that I went with my gut feeling. Our
intuition rocks!

What tips do you have for people wanting to make
the switch to a raw food diet?

I´d say experiment, play, find all sorts of fun inspiration
and if you live in an area that have cold seasons, wait for summer to come! Oh,
and Raw Food desserts are such a perfect eye opener and definitely have the
power to make people want more of the raw stuff!

What is your favourite raw food meal to prepare?

Yesterday I made a raw meal for me and Fabian. Zucchini
pasta with tomato sauce and olives, topped off with greens and raw crackers. It
made me realize how much I love the simple meals. Pure, Whole and Oh So Tasty!

What are your future plans? Any upcoming projects
you’d like to share with us?

Well first and foremost I was thinking I´d save the world...
I am part of an AMAZING weekend course called Goddess Boost in July where
I´ll whip up some glorious raw foods and speak about my yummy passions. I am
really looking forward to that!
You should come!

Also I am putting the final touches on the design of my
fabulous Nordic Superfood Mix which I am going to launch this summer. This is
such a heart project of mine and with it I wish to spread knowledge about the
superb superfoods that we have here up north. The Nordic Superfood Mix is
exclusively handpicked, extremely powerful and really tasty. If you want to
hear more about it or maybe know some place suitable to sell the product, do
contact me! I´d love to hear from you!

Maria, I am overjoyed you are back in the motherland. I can only imagine how wonderful it must feel, and just how much you are soaking up the magic of a Northern Spring. Life is busting at the seams isn't it!!

I found licorice root powder at my local health food store(not sure if it's raw- but were going with it) and was not able to get anise oil so I ground the seeds and went with that...very licoricey. Thx for your creativity it is truly appreciated :)

I just tried the recipie and...I wonder how smooth a smooth dough is ?! :) I blended until almost like toffy but the oil got a little sepperated so I wonder if it was to much? It got toffy-like but not soft-cake like.. how do you get that consistance because I find it hard to find the spot between to much blending and to little (to cruchy unblended mixture)It is very good thoug.. no matter the consistance :) just wondering how it should be :)thank you so much for your blog and your inspiration!Ólöf